Speakers

Tara Al-Rehani, Student, San José State University

Ms. Tara Al-Rehani is the Ca​l State Student Association (CSSA) 2025-26 President, the official voice of nearly half a million students in the California State University (CSU) system.

Having lived in San José, California, her whole life, President Al-Rehani understood the importance of education as a tool for success, but also the very real lack of accessibility to affordable and quality higher education. Her upbringing sparked a passion for advocacy and civil rights. This pushed her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in economics at San José State University (SJSU) and join student government at the campus and CSU level. President Al-Rehani started her advocacy career as a student representative with SJSU’s Lobby Corps and an intern for the California State Assembly. After reaffirming her commitment to higher education and her student peers, she advanced her own organization (The SWANA Initiative) on campus, which was dedicated to uplifting and formally recognizing Southwest Asian and North African students. Inevitably, President Al-Rehani found her way to CSSA to serve as the 2024-25 Vice President of Systemwide Affairs and the 2025-26 President. As the former CSSA VP of Systemwide Affairs and current President of CSSA, President Al-Rehani has represented CSU students to the CSU Board of Trustees, CSU Chancellor, CSU Academic Senate, CSU Alumni Council and the State of California. Her work has earned her SJSU’s 2025 A.S. 55 award and a spot with both the National Society of Leadership and Success and the National Political Science Honors Society (Pi Sigma Alpha – Iota Chapter).

Diego Arambula, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Mr. Diego Arambula serves as the vice chair of the CSU Board of Trustees and is vice president for educational transformation at the Carnegie Foundation. As vice president, he leads ambitious, actionable strategies and builds partnerships with educators, policymakers, parents, employers and community-based organizations to advance Carnegie’s mission.

Vice Chair Arambula began his career in politics, serving as the communications director for U.S. Representative Cal Dooley after serving as his deputy campaign manager.

Most recently, Vice Chair Arambula served as a managing partner with Transcend, where he worked with teachers, principals and superintendents across the country to explore how to best reimagine learning environments to prepare all children to thrive.

Previously, Vice Chair Arambula worked at Summit Public Schools, a leading network of charter public schools headquartered in Redwood City. At Summit, he was a classroom teacher, a founding principal and the chief growth and innovation officer. He has also served as the founder and executive director of GO Public Schools Fresno, an education advocacy non-profit focused on unlocking demand for radically re-envisioned school models.

Vice Chair Arambula received a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University. He serves on numerous boards, including the Central Valley Community Foundation, and lives in Fresno with his wife, Chandelle, and their two school-aged daughters.

Jazmin Guajardo, Student Trustee

Jazmin Guajardo is a first-generation college student who recently graduated from CSU Channel Islands with a bachelor of science degree in nursing. She is pursuing a career in public health nursing. Hailing from Oxnard and Santa Paula, California, she is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a sibling to three sisters.

In 2020, Guajardo established a League of United Latin American Citizens council at CSUCI. She held over 15 student leadership positions at the university, including student government intern, senator of Student Engagement, Lobby Corps member and ASI student government vice president.

Guajardo has successfully advocated for student success and retention by spearheading adjustments to scholarship requirements, working to expand on-campus housing payment plans, enhancing visibility of student-parent resources and providing recommendations to update the GPA requirement for student involvement at Channel Islands.

Additionally, Guajardo previously worked as a student assistant for ASI’s Student Organizations & Involvement office, with EOP and as a Certified Nursing Assistant in a skilled nursing facility.

Recognizing the importance of students’ sense of belonging, Guajardo has served as a mentor to over 100 college students from diverse and low-income backgrounds, established CSUCI’s Pre-Nursing Club’s mentor program and coordinated the university’s Student Nurses’ Association’s mentor program. She was recognized as CSUCI’s 2025 EOP Student of the Year and the inaugural recipient of the Mentor of Advocacy Award for her four years of service as an EOP Summer Bridge peer mentor.

Guajardo is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in healthcare administration and p​olicy at CSU Dominguez Hills.

Carson Fajardo, ​Student Trustee

Carson Fajardo is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), where he also earned his Bachelor of Arts in administration with a concentration in management in May 2025.

Fajardo served two consecutive terms as president and CEO of Associated Students, Incorporated (ASI) at CSUSB. In this role, he led a successful student fee referendum that increased ASI’s annual budget by more than $1 million, secured $350,000 in funding for one of the largest campus events in university history, and launched a rebranding initiative that included a complete redesign of the ASI logo. He also served on the board of directors for the Cal State Student Association, amplifying student priorities at the statewide level.

Before his ASI presidency, Fajardo held numerous leadership roles within the CSUSB Department of Housing and Residential Education. He was recognized with the department’s Leadership Award for two consecutive years and received the Bronze Pin from the National Association of College and University Residence Halls for his impact and service.

In his role as a member of the CSU Board of Trustees, Fajardo stated that he is focused on contributing his strategic vision and student-informed perspective to university governance. In the future, he plans to build a career in university and nonprofit advancement, with a mission to expand opportunity through philanthropy and public service.

Mike Fong, Assemblymember, District 49

Assemblymember Mike Fong was elected to the 49th District of the California State Assembly in a special election in February 2022. He is honored to represent the cities of Alhambra, Arcadia, El Monte, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, South Pasadena, Temple City, as well as the unincorporated areas of South San Gabriel, North El Monte and East Pasadena.

Mr. Fong currently serves as Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee and Chair of the Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. He is also a member of the Appropriations; Banking and Finance; Budget; Budget Subcommittee #3 on Education Finance; and Governmental Organization committees.

A lifelong public servant, Mr. Fong is passionate about serving California, especially the 49th District. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Mr. Fong served as a Trustee of the Los Angeles Community College District, the nation’s largest community college district. During his tenure, he worked to improve career pathway programs for students and ensure that higher education is accessible to all. Since 2022, Mr. Fong has authored over two dozen pieces of legislation that were signed into law by the Governor or incorporated in the state’s budget, and secured $35 million in funding to improve parks, community centers, and other projects in the 49th District. Mr. Fong’s legislative priorities include increasing access to quality education at every level, elevating language access for non-English speaking Californians, and improving public safety by helping to expedite the removal of dangerous weapons off our streets.

A product of Los Angeles County, Mr. Fong graduated from California State University at Northridge with a Master of Public Administration in Public Sector Management & Leadership and from University of California at Los Angeles with a B.S. in Psychobiology and a minor in Education. He is an avid fan of Dodger Baseball and UCLA athletics.

William Franklin, Vice President for Student Affairs, California State University, Dominguez Hills

Dr. William Franklin is the Vice President for Student Affairs at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and is the former Associate Vice President of Student Success. While at CSU Dominguez Hills, Dr. Franklin has secured over $50 million in federal, corporate, and private grants to design and implement student success initiatives for low-income, first-generation students of color.

Dr. Franklin has the unique experience of serving students as an innovative Assistant and Associate Professor and accomplished Student Affairs administrator. Dr. Franklin served as an Associate Professor in Child and Family Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and Associate Professor of Human Development at the Center of Collaborative Education and Professional Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay. While there, he was also the Interim Director of the Liberal Studies Institute. He has also served as a lecturer at Santa Clara University and Stanford University.

Dr. Franklin holds a doctorate in psychological studies in education with an emphasis on child and adolescent development from Stanford University. Before transitioning to Stanford, Dr. Franklin completed graduate studies in educational psychology and attained his Bachelor of Arts in psychology at California State University, Northridge.

Dr. Franklin has been honored with The Wang Family Excellence Award and the Outstanding Administrator out of the 22 campuses in the CSU. Dr. Franklin founded one of the nation’s most successful young men of color initiatives, called the Male Success Alliance. Dr. Franklin is also the founder and principal investigator of the California State University Young Males of Color Consortium.

Mildred García, Chancellor

Dr. Mildred García began her tenure as the California State University’s 11th chancellor on October 1, 2023. She is the first Latina to lead the nation’s largest and most diverse four-year public university system.

The appointment marks a return to the CSU for Dr. García, who served as president of Cal State Fullerton from 2012 to 2018, during which time she led the university to record improvements in graduation rates and nearly tripled new philanthropic gift commitments. She also served as president of CSU Dominguez Hills from 2007 to 2012, where she held the distinction of being the CSU’s first Latina president. At CSU Dominguez Hills, she dramatically increased retention rates for freshman and transfer students and eliminated a structural deficit of $2.8 million.

Prior to becoming chancellor, Dr. García served as president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) since 2018, where she was a strong advocate for public higher education, working to influence federal policy and regulations on behalf of 350 member colleges and universities. She is the first Latina to lead a presidentially based higher education association in Washington, D.C.

Dr. García was raised in New York City by her parents, who moved to New York from Puerto Rico. The first in her family to earn a degree, she received her bachelor’s in business education from Bernard M. Baruch College and a master’s in business education from New York University. At Teachers College, Columbia University, she earned a master’s and a doctorate in higher education administration

Junius J. Gonzales, Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs

Dr. Junius J. Gonzales began his appointment of vice chancellor of Academic Affairs on October 6, 2025.

Dr. Gonzales’s career spans nearly 35 years, the majority of which have been in academia. Most recently, he has been provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Montclair State University (MSU) in New Jersey, a Hispanic Serving Institution recognized for social mobility. He has also served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at New York Institute of Technology; senior vice president for Academic Affairs for the University of North Carolina (UNC) system, where he also served as interim president; and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Earlier in his academic career, Dr. Gonzales was the founding dean of the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences and executive director of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida (USF). Widely respected for his extensive and impactful research and scholarship, he has held research and teaching positions at UNC, UTEP, USF, George Washington University and Georgetown University.

A psychiatrist by training, Dr. Gonzales has also held high-level leadership positions in the federal government and the private sector. He has served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health’s Division of Services and Interventional Research, and as a principal and scientist in the Health Division of Abt Associates (now Abt Global), a top global research firm.

A first-generation college student, Dr. Gonzales earned his bachelor’s degree from Brown University, his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and his Master of Business Administration from Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He completed his medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Shonda Goward, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Success

Dr. Shonda Goward currently serves as the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success at the California State University, Office of the Chancellor, where she leads systemwide efforts to improve student outcomes and close equity gaps across all 22 CSU campuses. In this role, she manages a team who develops and implements key initiatives including the Student Success Dashboard, Certificate Program in Student Success Analytics, and academic preparation programs, while also overseeing external partnerships. She advances the CSU’s student success goals through policy development, data-informed decision-making and scalable support services, with particular focus on improving outcomes for underserved student populations across the CSU system.

Dr. Goward is the Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Student Success at San José State University. In this role, she oversaw the development of 10 student success centers dedicated to closing equity gaps and increasing graduation rates. Since joining the campus in Fall 2021, she built upon the foundational work of each college in developing these centers and collaborated with leadership in Undergraduate Education to enhance academic advising and advance broader student success initiatives.

Dr. Goward’s professional focus and research center on strategies for retaining historically excluded students and fostering their academic achievement and well-being. She holds a bachelor’s degree with dual majors in journalism and mass communication, and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in English with a concentration in African American Literature from Southern Connecticut State University, and a doctorate in higher education administration from The George Washington University.

A California native, Dr. Goward’s family migrated to the Bay Area during the Great Migration of the 1940s. She is a first-generation college graduate from a working-class background, and is proud to represent that perspective in her roles in the CSU.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley, President and CEO, College Futures Foundation

Mr. Eloy Ortiz Oakley is the President and CEO of the College Futures Foundation, where he leads California’s premiere philanthropic and post-secondary success organization focused on improving economic mobility for underserved learners through the lever post-secondary credential attainment.

Previously, he served as Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for six years, leading the nation’s largest and most diverse system of higher education. Under his leadership, the California community colleges were positioned as a vital source for maintaining the global competitiveness of the California workforce.

In 2021, while on a sabbatical, he served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the Biden Administration. He supported the development and communication of former President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda for Higher Education and the America’s College Promise proposal. President Oakley’s work included the design and implementation of the system’s strategic vision, the reform of state-based financial aid for community college students, and the design and launch of California’s first public fully online competency-based education college.

President Oakley serves on the boards of MDRC, Western Governors University, and the Board of Trustees for the University of California, Irvine, and is a Regent Emeritus of the University of California Board of Regents. He currently serves as a Commissioner for the Academy of Arts & Sciences Commission on Opportunities Beyond High School and as a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on the American Workforce.

President Oakley served in the US Army and earned both his Master of Business Administration and bachelor’s degrees from the University of California, Irvine.

Dilcie D. Perez, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success

Dr. Dilcie Perez currently serves as the deputy vice chancellor, Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success." Perez joined the Chancellor’s Office as associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Equity and Belonging in June 2022, with more than 23 years of experience in many facets of student affairs. In this role, she served as the Chancellor’s Office liaison to the CSU campuses’ vice presidents of student affairs and the senior diversity officers. For her efforts to advance student success and equity, Perez was recently recognized with the Cal State Student Association’s Administrator of the Year award.

She formerly served as vice president and assistant superintendent of Student Services for the Cerritos Community College District, where she led the restructuring of student services to focus on learning and career pathways to ensure high-impact student services and support, co-led the development for The Village (California’s first housing facility for students experiencing homelessness), and led the creation of the Falcon’s Nest—a comprehensive center focused on addressing student basic needs. Prior to that role, Perez served as dean of student life and judicial affairs at the Mira Costa Community College District in Oceanside, and for 13 years in leadership positions at her alma mater, CSU San Marcos.

Perez holds an Ed.D. in educational leadership from San Diego State University, a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from CSU San Marcos.

Diego Rendon, Student, Southern Region

Diego Rendon is a senior majoring in Finance and will graduate in December 2026. Originally from Palm Springs, California, he currently serves as the Student Body President at California State University, San Bernardino. Diego is a proud Deloitte Scholar and Visit Greater Palm Springs Scholar. This year, he is especially passionate about advancing student wellness..

Anthonio Reyes, Student, Central Region

A Music Education major graduating in 2026, Anthonio Reyes is passionate about music education in the region and engaging community through arts and civic engagement. Before starting at his CSU campus, he worked with the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability and The Open Door Network, focusing on housing and community empowerment. Anthonio, a trombonist, stays active in the local arts scene, performing regularly with a Latin group and at local theaters, churches, community concerts, and other events that keep him connected to the community. He hopes to inspire future students to find their voice through music and community engagement.

Olga Rodriguez, Director of the PPIC Higher Education Center and Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California

Ms. Olga Rodriguez is director of the PPIC Higher Education Center and a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where she holds the Thomas and Marilyn Sutton Chair in Higher Education Policy. As center director, she works with a team of researchers to identify programs and policies to help make the state’s higher education system more successful, equitable, and sustainable. Her own research focuses on college access and success among underserved students. Her recent work has examined statewide reforms to developmental education, English as a second language, dual enrollment, and assessment and placement systems in California’s community colleges. Before joining PPIC, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics/mathematics and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master’s degree and doctorate in economics and education from Columbia University.

Jessie Ryan, President, The Campaign for College Opportunity

An education equity leader with nearly two decades of experience advocating for California students, Ms. Jessie Ryan leads the Campaign for College Opportunity as President. President Ryan grew up in the Central Valley and her mother’s strong sense of civic service, empathy for others, and dream of earning her college degree inspired Jessie to become the first in her family to graduate from college. President Ryan began her career as a Circuit Rider for the Great Valley Center’s Community-Based Assistance Programs supporting activities and organizations that promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the Central Valley.

President Ryan joined the Campaign for College Opportunity, first as a Community Organizer, then Outreach Director and Associate Director, leading public awareness and coalition-building efforts. As Executive Vice President, she shepherded groundbreaking victories such as simplifying the transfer pathway, expanding enrollment funding for the CSU and the University of California, reforming remedial education at community colleges and increasing access to financial aid. Since 2017, she has secured statewide education investments totaling $5.3 billion in the areas of access, affordability and student success.

President Ryan served on the Sacramento City Unified School District’s Board of Education from 2014 to 2020, additionally serving as Board President from 2017 to 2020. Her “Safe Haven School District” policy was promoted as a state and national model by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

President Ryan is a product of community colleges in the Los Rios Community College District. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from San Francisco State University and a Master of Arts degree in leadership studies from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Mary Ann Villarreal, Vice President for Instructional Excellence, American Association of Colleges & Universities

Dr. Mary Ann Villarreal serves as Vice President for Institutional Excellence at the American Association of Colleges & Universities. She is a dynamic leader and historian whose work is deeply rooted in understanding and amplifying the stories of marginalized communities.

As a historian, Villarreal’s research has centered on cultural narratives, with a particular focus on the intersections of race, gender and class in U.S. history. She has explored the ways in which historical narratives can be used to challenge power structures, while also illuminating the resilience and agency of historically disenfranchised communities. Her scholarly background informs her leadership in profound ways, allowing her to approach equity and inclusion not only as leadership goals but as critical parts of the historical and social fabric of the institution.

Dr. Villarreal has spearheaded numerous initiatives aimed at creating equitable access to resources and opportunities for all students, faculty and staff. She builds pathways for future generations through education, strategic bridge building and community engagement.

Dr. Villarreal most recently served as the inaugural vice president for the division of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at the University of Utah. She earned a doctorate in history at Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies at Mount Holyoke College.